The Warehouse
by littlemissprincess721
Summary: Horatio and Emily are gravely injured at a setup crime scene. Disclaimer:CSI:Miami is not mine. Emily Taylor is. READ AND REVIEW!Third installment of the Littlest CSI series. Chapters 8 and 9 up! COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

The Warehouse Chapter 1

HEY EVERYONE!

Here's the new storyyyyy! How would you like a suspense thriller!

Thanks to KatieC:)

Disclaimer: CSI:Miami is not mine...Emily is...you know the drill.

Here goes.

The mole smiled as he hung up the phone on his desk.

He had just scored big time.

He was the kind of person that would give up anything for money, or information that would serve his selfish purposes.

He prided himself on his cunning. He had managed to secure a job at one the best crime labs in the world.

He was in a position where he knew everything about the lab, but he liked garnering information on Horatio Caine and his precious team of CSIs.

At first he had used his quick eyes and ears to just spread rumors around the lab, and stir up a little trouble. It was mostly innocent and all in good fun.

He had the kind of personality where people trusted him, and wouldn't blame him if their secrets got out.

At first, his knowledge had given him a sense of superiority, even over the CSIs who seemed to be the elite around here. However, he knew he wasn't really above any of them. He knew he wasn't in authority.

They used him and he hated it.

His jealousy of the elite, or so he called Horatio and his team, had driven him to cause real trouble. He had begun by leaking information to the press. When he discovered he could get money as well as really unsettling the team, it became his habit to know everything about anything that was happening in the lab; from the most miniscule disputes, to the biggest secrets.

Of course he was helped a lot by fools like Rick Stetler. Anyone who had an emotional grudge found in him a listening ear and sometimes, if they paid enough, a helping hand.

Still, he was rather annoyed by the fact that no one around here seemed to recognize his superiority, his cunning and his talent. If only they knew what he could do.

He had constantly tried to prove himself the CSI team, but they were self- centered, uncaring. Still every time they ticked him off he knew how to get his revenge. He had a hundred ways to pull some strings and cause major problems for the CSI team without them ever knowing it was him. He prided himself on his secrecy and intelligence. They would never know.

Today had been an especially good day for him. Of course it had started out bad enough. The first thing he got this morning was the newest CSI coming into his office and giving him a bunch of crap to do. This had really angered him. He was older than her, why should he take her orders? He had, however, done what she asked of him.

He had been brainstorming just how to take his revenge for unjust treatment, when the call came in on his Cell Phone.

"Hello?" he had answered.

"Hello," a deep voice answered. "I need a favor."

"Who is this?"

"Someone who is looking to clear up some trouble."

"What kind of trouble?"

"I have a...problem...with Horatio Caine. I need help fixing it."

"And why should I help you?"

"Let's just say it would be for our mutual benefit."

"How?"

"I want every movement of the CSI team tracked and reported to me. I also want you to make sure, by whatever means possible that Horatio Caine is left alone to attend to a certain case which will come in later this week."

"What's in it for me?"

"Twenty-five thousand dollars."

"Twenty-five thousand? That's it? Oh I think you could do better than that."

"Why should I?" the deep voice answered.

"I'll tell you why. I am in a very good position to give you more information than you could possibly get anywhere else on Horatio Caine. By doing this, however, my position in the lab could be compromised. Horatio is being cautious; it will take a lot to do this.

I just want to be…insured, in case anything goes wrong." The mole replied.

There was silence for a moment. Then the deep voice spoke again.

"I will raise my offer to thirty-three thousand. I believe that will keep you…insured."

"I agree."

"Do we have a deal."

"Yes."

"Call me back tonight."

"I will."

Of course I have just described the MOLE! Good?

Bad? TELL ME AND REVIEW!


	2. Paperwork

The Warehouse Chapter 2

Hello again!

Thanks to KatieC!

Disclaimer: CSI:Miami is not mine, Emily is...blablabla

ON WITH IT!

Horatio groaned as he rested his head on his desk, massaging his temples and trying to get rid of the migraine that was threatening to set in.

It had probably been the most frustrating week of his life. There had been enough cases to occupy his entire team but him. Stetler had been aggravating him with IAB matters and demanded that Horatio step back from cases this week and finish up with paperwork he had fallen behind on.

He could tell his team was slightly frustrated, especially since Miami had decided to give them a number of tedious cases. The only person who seemed to be having a good week was Emily.

Having a kid working in the lab was a little strange. She was in a good mood a lot more than the rest of the staff. Granted, he had seen her get frustrated and angry at times; she was human, but it was never for long. She would calm down as quickly as possible and be back to her old self. She tried her hardest to do her best at her job. He was rather proud of his team and she had made that fierce pride even more real to him. The team had welcomed her with open arms and they were doing their best to help her improve as a CSI.

She had been highly instrumental in bringing the team closer together too. Eric and Ryan had become good friends over the past month, although they would have a spat every now and then. But as soon as the spat started Horatio would see Emily talking to them, and they would quickly reconcile. She seemed to be a good moderator. He chuckled as he scribbled something else on the paper he was looking at and closed the manila folder. Only two more cases to go and he would finally be able to get back to work.

Less than an hour later he finished the last file

_Earlier than Stetler expected too_. He thought, rather satisfied. He delivered the files to Stetler's secretary and then stopped by the front desk.

"Hello, Claudia".

"Morning Horatio. What do you need?" the pretty secretary asked.

"Any new cases?"

"Yes in fact, one was just called in. Here's the slip."

"Thanks."

He looked down at the paper in his hands. A Homicide and the location was over two hours away. How did they end up with an assignment that far out? He shook his head and went to the break room to see if anyone was available to help.

"Hello everyone." He greeted his team as he walked in.

Emily was sitting by the table scribbling on some paper work. Ryan was asleep in a lounge chair, snoring and Eric was making coffee. Calleigh was eating a banana and holding a Sharpie in her hand. She kept looking at the Sharpie, then back at Ryan.

"Should I do it?" she asked

"Do it," whispered Eric as he mixed sugar into his coffee. "Or better yet let me!"

Emily just shook her head. "I personally would superglue his face to his hand."

Calleigh smiled and began to creep towards Ryan, pen ready. She was disappointed however when Ryan woke up, yawned and stretched.

"What's up guys?"

Calleigh just glared at him and stomped over to Horatio. "I have to get back to work." She said, giving Horatio a quick kiss on the cheek before stomping out the door.

Horatio blushed as he looked back at his team. Eric and Ryan were staring at him with raised eyebrows. Emily was giving him a mischievous grin.

"Will you three stop?" He asked, somewhat exasperated.

They laughed.

"Anyway," he said, "I need help with a homicide. Anyone available?"

"Sorry boss, I have a B and E." Answered Ryan.

"And I have a bank robbery." said Eric.

"I'm free," said Emily. "I just finished all my paperwork. I don't want to end up locked in my office forever because I procrastinated."

" I did not procrastinate," said Horatio, frowning slightly.

Emily raised her eyebrows, Ryan coughed, and Eric tried desperately to hide his growing smile.

"I was just tied up with some cases." He answered firmly.

"Excuses, excuses..." Emily mumbled

By this time Ryan and Eric were cracking up.

"Get back to work." he said glaring at them.

They made their way out.

"Come on its a long drive and I wanted to take Calleigh out for dinner tonight."

"Don't worry boss, I'll work fast. We'll make it back in plenty of time." she said with a smile.

Little did she know how wrong she was.

UHOH!


	3. The Shooting

The Warehouse Chapter 3

Thanks to KatieC!

Thanks to readers and reviewers!

I don't own CSI:Miami...I own Emily...

Emily seemed very, well, irritable to Horatio on the drive out there. It was July and the heat was oppressive. Emily was wearing Capris and a short sleeved shirt and looked rather uncomfortable. Horatio kept the windows closed, but blasted the AC in the car and soon Emily was comfortable enough to fall asleep.

_Great,_ Horatio thought, _I have to keep myself company. Why the hell are we driving two hours out of our jurisdiction anyway? _

Horatio hummed as he thought to himself. He had made up his mind that something was up and he needed to be on his guard. Emily shifted in her sleep, mumbled something and then began to snore softly. He laughed softly and drove on.

Officer Rankes of the Miami-Dade PD leaned on his car door relaxing as his battery powered hand-held fan blew cool air into his face. He was out here two hours out of his damn jurisdiction for no reason. He figured it was because he was a newbie and since no one else wanted the job he was stuck here. He shook his head and brought the fan a little closer to his forehead, sighing in satisfaction as the cool air relieved him. Suddenly he heard something move off to his left. The bushes were rustling.

"Miami-Dade PD, who's there?" He yelled as he drew his gun. He thought he heard something like a whistling sound behind him.

Suddenly pain erupted in his chest. He gasped and looked down. Blood was pouring out of a bullet hole on the left side of his chest. He choked as the world spun and he dropped to his knees. He saw a looming figure above him and tried to talk, to ask for help, but his words only came out as a muffled gasp. As he fell forward, his head hitting the pavement, he thought of his wife, soon to deliver their first child. _I love you, baby. _He thought, unable to gather the strength to say the words out loud. _Take care of our baby. I know it'll be a girl. Tell her all about her Daddy._

The killer smiled as he looked down at the Police Officer's now lifeless body. He bent down, rolled the corpse over and unclipped his badge and nameplate.

"Sorry about that, Officer Rankes." he said with a smile

He undid the dead man's belt and put it in the back of his truck. Good to have spare weapons. He then picked up the dead officer, and put him in the warehouse. He cleaned up the blood outside and sprayed a special formula that would take care of the smell. He clipped on officer Rankes' badge and nameplate and settled in for the wait. Perfect. Horatio Caine wouldn't suspect a thing.

Horatio pulled up to the abandoned warehouse and parked the Hummer. Emily woke up, rubbed her eyes and stretched.

"We're here." Horatio said. Emily nodded and yawned.

"Emily, we need to be on our guard. I have a feeling...something isn't right about this."

"Okay." She replied, a little apprehensive now about the Scene.

"Good," said Horatio. "Let's go."

Horatio and Emily stepped out of the car and took their kits out of the trunk.

"Officer." Horatio's deep voice greeted the man in uniform.

"Body is inside." the officer replied pointing at the open warehouse door. He watched Horatio and his little friend walk inside.

Horatio kneeled beside the body.

"He's a police officer," he said softly studying the corpse. "I wonder if Officer Rankes even looked in here."

Emily examined the scene. "Horatio something is definitely odd here." Horatio nodded and prompted Emily to continue.

"This blood is fresh, I would say less than an hour old. The pool of blood is too small for a through and through chest wound."

Suddenly gunfire erupted. Emily and Horatio were immediately on their feet, drawing their guns and running for cover. Emily reached a pile of metal crates with Horatio just behind her. She heard a muffled 'oomph' of a body hitting the floor, followed by a cry of pain. She fired and turned quickly toward the sound.

Horatio had fallen right in the line of fire and was trying to crawl toward her, clutching his leg with one hand. Horrified, Emily holstered her gun.

"Horatio! Start firing!" she yelled as she ran toward him. Horatio obeyed, drawing his gun and firing. Emily reached him, grabbed him under his arms and began dragging him toward cover, ignoring pain that erupted in her arm. They reached cover at last. Emily helped him so he could lean back against the crates.

"Hold on!" she said as she stood, firing above the crates.

Horatio could barely move. He grasped his leg, willing himself to control his ragged breathing. He let go for a moment, tearing off his jacket. He took out a knife and cut off a sleeve, a quickly cut that into strips.

Three minutes later he had a makeshift tourniquet around the wound in his thigh.

He looked up at Emily who had ducked down again.

"Okay?" she asked. He nodded. She stood up again and continued firing, sheer determination written on her face. He heard two more gunshots.

He saw Emily fall as if in slow motion. She fell backwards, her arm flung out as her gun left her grasp and flew across the room. The gunshots stopped.

Silence fell.

"Let's go, we're done here."

Horatio tensed at the sound of the man's voice.

"But Caine is alive." Said a second voice.

"Not for long."

He heard footsteps and the sound of huge doors closing and locking.

He managed to crawl over to Emily despite the pain in his leg. He took out his phone as he reached her.

"I've got shots fired at the warehouse off I-98. Two officers down. Need EMS fast." he spoke into his radio.

"Copy" the radio crackled. "Sending paramedics."

He put away his radio and looked Emily over.

She was laying on her back on the floor, gasping pitifully. She had sustained two gunshot wounds, in her left arm and her right shoulder.

"Emily, can you hear me?" he said softly. He was greeted with pain filled green eyes as she looked up at him.

"Hey...boss." she said in shaky voice.

Horatio set to work right away, cutting off pieces of his jacket. He created two thick pads out of the pieces. He placed one underneath her shoulder and used the other one to apply pressure to the entry wound. Emily gasped in pain.

He winced a little in sympathy. "Sorry, Emily, but I have to do this."

"How's your...leg?"

"It'll be okay."

She wasn't buying it. "It sounds ...like...yo...you...are in...p...pain."

"Same to you."

They were silent for a while, both in pain, unaware of the time that had passed.

"Horat..io?"

"Shh, Emily..."

"Am...I...gonna...d...die?"

"No, Emily, now be quiet. You're going to be fine, I promise." he answered in a soothing tone.

"Are you...gonna...be okay?"

"Yes. Now settle down."

Horatio reached out, folded a new piece of his jacket and replaced the blood soaked one on Emily's wound.

More time passed. Neither of them knew how long they had been here, whether it had been hours or days. Emily began to feel slightly numb in her toes.

A little more time passed. Emily began to cough softly. It grew worse as it turned into a hacking cough. When the fit had passed there was blood trickling out of the corner of her mouth. Horatio carefully wiped it away with another piece of his now

"I...I'm...s..s...so...cold." Emily said as she began to shiver. Horatio immediately recognized this as a sign of shock.

"Stay with me," He said in a warning tone. "You hear me Emily? You have to stay awake! Where are those damn paramedics?" he shouted at the warehouse.

"So..t...tired..."

"Stay with me, Emily!_"_ Horatio was determined to keep Emily awake, he couldn't allow another member of his team to die, not again. Not like Speed.

"What?" Emily's words slurred and her eyes began to drift shut. Her breath was coming in short desperate gasps.

"Stay awake! Come on Em, you have to stay awake." Horatio's tone of voice penetrated the fog that was starting to cloud Emily's mind.

_Why was Horatio upset? It was so cold here, strange for Miami. Why couldn't she breathe? Why was everything so blurry?_

Horatio's worried face loomed over her. He was saying something but she was too tired to notice what he was saying.

She was so tired.

_It would be so nice to sleep. So nice..._

CLIFFIE! HAHA!


	4. Sirens

The Warehouse Chapter 4

"Emily...please...stay awake." he said as the gasping CSI closed her eyes.

He leaned over her. Her eyes opened but she looked confused. Her thin body convulsed. A gasping breath. A convulsion. Another gasping breath.

Then silence.

Emily Taylor wasn't breathing.

"NO!" He yelled. Ignoring his leg he turned himself so he was kneeling and began CPR.

He didn't know how long he kneeled there, ignoring the pain in his leg as he did chest compressions and breathed for her. He was not going to give up on her. She was not going to die. He wouldn't let her.

"Come on Emily. You have to breath." He said as he continued chest compressions.

Pain suddenly flared up in his leg. He gasped as his hands moved to clutch his leg. He was shaking uncontrollably and he felt dizzy. His breath came in short gasps. The room was spinning. He looked at Emily's small form laying there on the ground. He hadn't saved her. He shook his head as his vision blurred slightly. He had failed again.

_Just like I failed Speed._

"I'm sorry." He mumbled.

The world spun more. He moaned as he lay back. He rolled over onto his side, facing away from Emily. He clutched his leg tightly. He shivered as if he was laying on ice.

Then, as if from a distance, he heard sirens and shouting. A door opened letting in the bright afternoon sunlight.

"Horatio! Emily!" He heard voices shouting. He recognized the voices of Ryan and Eric.

"OH MY GOD! HORATIO!" he heard Calleigh scream.

"Horatio, please don't be dead!" He felt Calleigh hand grab his wrist. "I need paramedics! He's got a pulse! Open your eyes baby, come on."

Calleigh nearly cried out in relief when Horatio blinked, his confused, tear filled eyes coming to rest on her.

"Calleigh...she's dead." He tried to sit up. "Emily…

Calleigh saw Eric kneeling next to her and paramedics gathered all around shouting. She turned back to Horatio.

"Shh, it's gonna be all right," she said stroking his hair as two paramedics came over. "Where does it hurt, baby?"

"My leg." He grunted in pain as the paramedic removed the makeshift bandage to examine the wound. The paramedic waved over a gurney.

Horatio held Calleigh's hand as she ran beside the paramedics. Just as he was being loaded into the ambulance, he saw the paramedics using a defibrillator on Emily.

"Why are they doing that? She's dead..." He mumbled.

"Shhh, baby." Calleigh answered.

Eric and Ryan reached Emily's body as Calleigh ran off to Horatio.

"Oh no." he said softly, kneeling down next to her.

Ryan knelt on her other side and felt for a pulse. His eyes widened.

"Eric, she has a pulse."

Eric sprang into action. "We need paramedics over here!" he shouted.

In about five seconds a team of paramedics surrounded them and began to work on Emily.

"I have a pulse, but it's weak," one said keeping his fingers on her wrist.

"Breathing is shallow," another said as she strapped an oxygen mask to Emily's face.

" Wounds to left arm and right shoulder, bleeding moderately."

"She's already lost a lot of blood."

"Ready! 1, 2, 3 LIFT!"

They put her on a gurney and ran towards the ambulance. Still shouting. Eric heard one voice shouting louder than the others.

"I've lost her pulse! Get the Cart!"

They were bringing out the defibrillator. "Clear!" one yelled as another pressed the paddles to Emily's chest. Her little body jumped as electricity shot through her.

"Still no pulse!"

"Try again!"

"Clear."

Emily's body jumped again. Vaguely, Eric noticed Horatio being loaded onto an ambulance. He looked a hell of a lot better than Emily.

"Still no pulse!"

"Clear!"

Another convulsion.

"I've got a pulse!"

"Load her up!"

"Eric! Come on!"

Ryan was tugging on his arm. He met the younger CSI's eyes and followed him onto the ambulance.

OH NO!


	5. Waking Up

The Warehouse Chapter 5

Hey everyone!

Thanks to KatieC.

I own Emily Taylor. That's all I own.

HERE WE GO!

The first thing Horatio perceived when he woke up is that he was laying on a soft bed. A comfortable bed. He heard the beeping of different monitors. The air smelled sterile. A hospital? How had he ended up in a hospital?

Suddenly the memories from the warehouse came flooding back to him. The shooting. His leg. Emily. Emily dead on the cold concrete floor. He moaned softly. He had failed her. He had failed again.

"Horatio! Finally, you're awake." He felt a small hand squeeze his own. Calleigh was here.

"Hey, Calleigh."

"Welcome back." She was smiling. Why was she smiling?

"Calleigh, she's dead. Emily died"

He opened his eyes. Calleigh was staring at him, her eyes wide.

"I couldn't save her." he managed.

"But you did save her, Handsome."

"What are you talking about?" He looked at her, confused.

"Emily is alive. Oh, baby you were in shock when we found you, you probably couldn't feel her pulse."

"Where is she?" Horatio said sitting up. Pain shot up and down his leg and he fell back with a moan.

Calleigh pressed her hands to his chest.

"Whoa there!" Calleigh said with a soft laugh. "You're not quite ready to get up yet. I haven't heard much of anything. Ryan and Eric have both stopped in but all they said was she's crashed three times on the way here. Last I heard she's still in surgery."

"Oh." He fell silent.

Calleigh rubbed his arm and kissed him on the forehead. "You just go back to sleep."

He nodded and closed his eyes, his head spinning with information, and fell into a restless sleep.

Eric walked in the room. "Hey Cal." he said reaching over to give her a hug. He could feel how worn she was. They had been here for over 24 hours.

"How's Emily?"

"She just got out of surgery. The doctor says they've done all they can."

"And?"

"Calleigh, she's in a coma. It may last ten days or..."

"Ten years." Calleigh finished for him. She leaned into his open arms, stress and exhaustion crumbling the brave face she had put on for Horatio and began to sob.

Eric didn't know how long he held Calleigh while she sobbed, whispering soothing words to his dear friend, telling her over and over again that it would be okay.

After a while the sobs were reduced to sniffles. She looked up wiping her eyes.

"I'm a mess," she mumbled.

"You have a reason to be." he replied, rubbing her back

"Do Emily's Mom and Dad know?"

"Yes. They are with her now."

"I should go see them."

"No, Calleigh. You stay here with Horatio. Ryan and I are taking care of Emily. When Horatio is better you can visit."

"Okay."

"I'm gonna go get some coffee. Tell Horatio I said hey when he wakes up okay?"

Calleigh nodded, moving from the couch to a chair next to Horatio's bed. She grabbed his hand and stroked the top of it with her thumb.

"Cal?" Eric called softly, standing at the door

"Yes?" she looked up.

"Everything is gonna be okay." he said with a tired smile.

She smiled back.


	6. Determination

Hey everyone! yay for new chapters! I think about 4 more will finish up this story.

SO here goes!

Disclaimer: Emily is mine...otherwise I own nada...

Ryan stared at Emily prone figure in the bed. There were tubes and IV lines seemingly everywhere. She looked so small, so...vulnerable. He put his head in his hands. He didn't believe this was actually happening. The steady beep of the heart monitor filled the otherwise silent room with sound. He fell asleep.

Eric came in holding two cups of coffee in a tray and a bouquet of flowers. He set the flowers on the nightstand by the bed and looked over at Ryan who was asleep on the couch.

"Hey...Ryan wake up."

Ryan moaned. "Five more minutes Mom."

Eric laughed. "Come on, your coffee is gonna get cold."

Ryan opened his eyes. "Coffee?"

Eric pressed a cup into Ryan's hand. Ryan sipped quietly.

"Any change?" Eric asked looking over at Emily.

"None." Said Ryan, softly.

"Ryan?"

"What?"

"We're going to get the bastard that did this to them." Eric said with a determined look in his eye.

Four days later Emily still hadn't woken up.

Horatio, however, had been released from the hospital on crutches, with his leg bandaged up nicely.

He was seated comfortably by Emily's bed, his leg propped up on another chair. Calleigh had gone to get food; Eric and Ryan were back at the lab, working overtime to catch the shooters. He stared at Emily's face, her eyes were moving fast behind her eyelids.

"It's called REM." a voice interrupted his musing.

He looked over to the door. A middle-aged doctor had stepped into the room, and was checking the various monitors around Emily's bed, scribbling notes on his clipboard.

"My name is Dr. Philips. You are?"

"Horatio Caine. I'm her boss."

"Ah, the Lieutenant. Her mother told me about you. Where is her family anyway?"

"I sent them home. They were all exhausted. I think her Mom has been here everyday."

"Mmm. They seem to be a very close family."

"They are."

There was a pause in the conversation. Horatio shifted, his injured leg making him uncomfortable.

"What exactly is her condition? All I've heard are snippets of information."

"Well," the doctor started, "She was shot in the left arm which will heal well, given a little time. That is the least worrisome of her injuries. She was also shot in the right shoulder. The bullet grazed an artery, which caused blood loss. The blood loss made her blood pressure drop to a critical level causing her heart to beat irregularly and finally stop. We have given her several blood transfusions and this appears to have been very successful."

Horatio nodded. "Have you removed the bullet?" He felt awkward asking the question, but he had to consider the physical evidence.

"Yes, it was given to your CSI's. We're very pleased with her progress, considering the condition she was in," At this the doctor paused and glared at Horatio, "Be aware that she is not out of the woods yet, we are very worried about the concussion that she sustained."

Horatio looked up in surprise.

"A concussion?"

"Yes. She fell backwards and hit her head pretty hard on the concrete. As much as I hate to say it, we don't know what is going on inside her head. All her CAT scans are showing up mostly normal, there are things we expect with concussions, but she could suffer from any number of things."

"Such as?" Horatio prompted, worried.

"Memory loss for one. Her concussion is rather severe. You should be prepared for anything."

Horatio nodded quietly.

_Emily didn't quite know where she was. She was lying_ _down that was for sure. She couldn't really feel much._ _She was just somewhere. She could hear voices,_ _snippets of conversation. She heard her name a few_ _times. The voices were sad, so sad. She wanted to wake_ _up and comfort them. She wanted to wake up. _

Horatio was watching the doctor take more notes on his clipboard when Emily's eyes suddenly snapped open. Her body went rigid as she pulled herself up to a sitting position, eyes wide and fearful.

"Emily!" The doctor dropped the clipboard and ran over to her bedside.

"I need a nurse over here!" he yelled.

Two nurses in the hallway heard the call and ran in.

"Emily." the doctor soothed "I need you to relax."

Emily was anything but relaxed. She looked at the doctor fearfully, her left hand clawing desperately at his arm.

"Emily," Horatio said softly. "Relax. It's going to be okay."

"Do you want the tube out?" The doctor asked kindly.

Emily nodded, her eyes wide.

"Okay then, I need you lay back." He turned to the nurses. "Get the oxygen tank ready, Anita. Janice, hold her down."

Horatio squeezed Emily's hand in his own as the doctor removed the tube. Emily coughed. Dr. Philips quickly put the oxygen mask to her face.

"Emily, I want you to breathe deeply and slowly." He instructed.

Emily tried to comply. Her eyes were squeezed shut; her gauze wrapped arms lay limp at her sides.

She slowly opened her eyes and looked meaningfully at the doctor.

"Do you want to say something?" he asked patiently.

Emily nodded. The doctor pulled back the mask.

"My...arm...and my...shoulder...hurt a lot." Emily managed to say between breaths.

"We can take care of that," the doctor replied. He turned to the nurse. "Janice I need a morphine drip ASAP."

Emily looked at the doctor again from underneath the mask. He removed it.

"Why does...it...hurt?" she managed.

"You were shot." Horatio said softly

Emily turned to him. "Horatio? What...happened?" The doctor pressed the oxygen mask back over her mouth.

"Do you remember the warehouse?" Horatio asked softly.

Emily looked confused, as if she was racking her brains to bring up that one memory.

_A warehouse? _

Her eyes opened and widened as she suddenly remembered what had happened. The doctor removed the mask again.

"I know...it was...2 hours...out of our...jurisdiction..."

The mask was pressed back to her face. She shook her head at the doctor. "There was something odd...about the scene...gunshots...your leg!" She tried to sit up.

"No Emily." Both the doctor and Horatio said at the same time.

The doctor pressed the oxygen mask back to her face and very carefully pushed her back down to the bed. "Relax. Please. You're not making my job any easier." The doctor said with a smile. "Emily, we have just put a morphine drip in."

Emily nodded.

Five minutes passed. The doctor removed the mask and inserted smaller tubes in her nose.

"There. Well," the doctor said as he checked her over. "Nothing unexpected. No apparent memory loss. You probably have a head- ache, something to be expected with that concussion. Morphine will take care of any other pain you have. Otherwise everything is healing nicely and we should be able to release you within the next couple of weeks."

"Thank you doctor." Emily managed.

The doctor smiled and left the room.

"You feeling okay?" Horatio said looking up at her.

"I'm on morphine. I'll be fine." Emily said, shifting slightly.

"Good." Said Horatio as he moved to get up. He grabbed his crutches, pushed his chair out of the way and managed to hobble to his feet.

"Where are you going?" Emily looked worried.

"I am going to catch the men that did this to us." Horatio said.

"But…you're hurt." Emily said, her voice rather hoarse.

"I know that." Horatio said, making his way over to the door. When he reached the door he turned and smiled. "Fortunately for us, they were hurt too."

Horatio made his way as quickly as possible towards the cafeteria. He found Calleigh walking back to their room, laden with trays of food.

"Horatio Caine! I told you not to move!" Calleigh said with an angry look in her green eyes.

"Calleigh, we're leaving." Horatio said hobbling past her.

"What? What happened to Emily, is she okay?" Calleigh said, nearly dropping her trays of food.

"Oh, don't worry about Emily. She's fine, she actually just woke up."

"Horatio!" Calleigh scolded him

"What?"

"We can't just leave her."

"But…Calleigh, the case!"

"You are in no shape to solve a case yet." Calleigh said with a shake of her head.

"Yes I am. I was released."

"And the doctor said to take it easy!"

"Calleigh if you don't drive me to the lab, I'm going to call a cab and get there myself."

Calleigh stared at him for a moment. "Horatio Caine you are the most stubborn man I know." She said, trying to hide her smile.

"That's why you love me." He said with a mischievous grin.

Calleigh smiled and kissed him on the cheek. "Okay. We will go to the lab, but first we have to make sure someone is with Emily. And I have all this food that I have no idea what to do with. Horatio when you get set on something you just forget to think sometimes."

"What can I say? I'm a man of action."

Calleigh winked. "I love men of action." Then she turned back down the hall towards Emily's room.

Horatio shook his head and followed her. She was amazing.

"Hello Emily." Calleigh said as she walked in the room.

Emily coughed. "Hey."

"You want some water?" Calleigh asked.

"Yes…please."

Calleigh carefully helped Emily drink.

"It's good to see you awake."

Emily smiled. "Cal?"

"Yes?"

"Where are my parents?" Emily asked softly

"Oh yes…"

Horatio hobbled in. "I just called them. They're on their way."

Emily nodded and leaned her head back against the pillows, wearily closing her eyes.

"Thanks." She said softly keeping her eyes closed.

They started talking about everything that had happened over the past few days. Emily asked about Eric and Ryan and the rest of her friends at the lab. Calleigh and Horatio read the various cards and told her who had given her each of the numerous bouquets of flowers.

Emily's parents arrived quickly. And Horatio and Calleigh said a quick goodbye and left Emily in the loving hands of her family. She would be fine for now.

They arrived at the lab quickly. Horatio had already paged Eric and Ryan to bring all information about the case so far to the break room.

They had work to do.

Please review! I really want to know what you think of this story! where are all the folks who love the Littlest CSI?


	7. So Damn Stubborn

Disclaimer: CSI:Miami isn't mine but Emily Taylor is.

Here goes!

Horatio and Calleigh arrived at the break room rather quickly; despite Horatio's injury. He hobbled with determination.

Calleigh smiled. He had that Horatio Caine look in his eye. The look that showed up when he was deeply focused and involved in a case. The look that told the world he would not give up until he had achieved justice.

Maybe his stubbornness is what made him so attractive to her.

Horatio was way ahead of her in the hall. He stopped and turned his head.

"Hurry up, Cal. I'm injured and I'm moving faster than you." He said with an impatient tone.

"Don't you get that tone with me Horatio Caine." Calleigh said as she jogged to catch up to him.

He just looked forward and hobbled faster, however she was sure she saw a smile flit across his face.

"Eric, give me all you've got. Now." Horatio said. It wasn't a request it was an order.

Eric looked up from the photos he was studying.

"Well, first of all, Officer Rankes, wasn't Officer Rankes. _This_ is Officer Rankes." Eric said as he held up the photograph of the dead police officer they had found on the floor of the warehouse.

"That explains a lot," Horatio looked lost for just a moment as if he was recalling a memory. "Do we have the imposter?"

"He was just brought in. He's waiting for questioning." Eric said.

"We'll take care of that after you finish giving us the evidence." Horatio said softly.

"The guns the shooters used were very high powered machine guns. They are actually rather rare around here. Problem is we can't match them."

"Illegally obtained guns." Said Horatio softly

"Yes."

"Have we identified the shooters?"

"Yeah. You're gonna love this," Eric replied. "Many of the dead shooters had Mala Noche tattoos."

"A hit?"

"Yes. We also found this one of the shooters." Eric handed Horatio a crumpled piece of paper."

Horatio took it.

_Horatio Caine is the target. He will be at the location at 12 Noon. Be ready. The boss wants him dead."_

Calleigh watched his face as he read the note. A myriad of emotions seemed to cross his face in a second. Anger, fear and was that remorse? Calleigh grabbed his hand and squeezed it softly. Knowing him the fear wasn't for himself but for those he loved.

He released her hand and hobbled out of the room on his crutches.

"Eric, come with me. We need to get that interview."

Eric entered the interview room first. He shoved a picture at the suspect.

"Recognize him?"

"Nope." Said the suspect, with a prideful air.

"You should." Eric said pulling the picture back to him.

"Why?"

"Because that is the police officer you killed." Said Horatio, hobbling in on his crutches.

The suspect looked at Horatio in shock. Horatio returned the stare with an intense glare.

"Those were your orders weren't they? The Noches told you to kill him, set up the crime scene, lure me in."

"I'm not saying anything." Said the suspect, pushing his brown hair back with his hand.

"_You will_ say something. You are not in a good position right now. You have killed an officer and injured two others."

"You can't prove that."

"Yes, I can." Replied Horatio evenly.

"We have a warrant for your DNA. All we have to do is match you to the scene," said Eric as he swabbed the suspect's mouth.

"You are looking at a lifetime sentence and I swear to you, you will not get away." Horatio said focusing his intense stare on the imposter. "Who ordered the hit?" Horatio said softly, moving himself so he was standing opposite the suspect.

"I do not know." Said the suspect.

"You're afraid aren't you?" said Eric softly.

"No."

"They'll kill you if you tell, won't they?"

The suspect was silent.

"What is your name?" asked Horatio.

"Jonathan."

"Do you have a family, Jonathan?"

"My mother…" said the suspect hanging his head.

"Does she know what you have done?"

"No. I work a good office job most of the time. That's all I ever tell her about my life"

"She doesn't know you are deeply involved in a gang?"

"I'm not that deep!"

"So you admit you are in it." Stated Eric.

"Jonathan, you committed a murder. We can't keep you out of jail, but we can protect your mother." said Horatio softly.

"But first you have to tell us why you were recruited, what you did and where the gang is now." said Eric.

"Let's start with why you were recruited." Horatio stated.

"Well…I…to be honest…I saw them exchanging weapons on my way to the car at work about two weeks ago. The guns were huge. I was about to call the police when they saw me. I took off for my car, but they caught up to me and grabbed me. They tied me up and put me in the back seat of a big van. They were speaking and yelling in rapid Spanish; I couldn't understand. We drove for about fifteen minutes. They blindfolded me. We walked. They sat me down somewhere and when they took off my blindfold this guy was leaning over me."

"Do you know where this house was? The one they took you to?" Asked Horatio.

"It was about 15 minutes north of my workplace I think. I didn't get a street name though."

Eric pushed a pad of paper and told him to write down the address of his workplace and any names he remembered. He obeyed and finished quickly.

"I'm not sorry I killed him," said Jonathan as he wrote down the names. "Son of a bitch gave me a ticket a few weeks back."

Horatio and Eric had left the Interview Room and were headed back to the Lab.

"Eric I want you to look up those names, I want to find someone that we can talk to."

"Got it boss."

"And give Ryan the address. Work together to find any of those names or any connections to the Noches in that area."

"Sure thing. I'll get on that right away."

"I'll be down in the Ballistics Lab with Calleigh. Page me when you get something."

Horatio found Calleigh firing a machine gun into the Water Tank.

"Hey there, Handsome." She greeted him as she went to retrieve the bullet. "How's your leg?"

"Fine. What do you have?"

"Well, I tested the bullets in each gun and compared them to the bullets found in you and Emily. This gun," she said holding up a gun tagged 'Ramirez' "Matched the bullet in your leg. The prints on it matched one of the four men in the Morgue."

"This gun," she continued holding up another gun tagged 'Unknown' "Matched the bullet in Emily's shoulder. This gun", she held up another gun tagged Torres, "Matched the bullet in Emily's arm."

"Torres is in the Morgue." finished Calleigh.

"Which leaves us with an unknown shooter." said Horatio.

"I'll send the gun to be checked for prints and trace."

"Thanks Calleigh." Horatio said as he turned to go out the door. As he left he could've sworn he heard her mumble something that contained the words _so damn stubborn. _He smiled to himself as made his way to find Eric and Ryan.

Rating has now gone up for language...review now please!


	8. Finding the Shooters

The Warehouse Chapter 8

Emily was bored. Very bored.

Being shot in both arms basically led her to be immobile in the upper body. Her right arm was in a sling and her left arm was bandaged. Dr. Philips wanted her to regain limited mobility in her left arm before he released her, which would be at least another week according to him.

She groaned and tried to move her left arm just a little to reach the remote. _Damn it! _She silently cursed as the remote slipped and fell off the bed. She leaned back against the pillows and shut her eyes. Her headache was coming back, her arms were going from painless to a dull ache, and she couldn't reach the stupid morphine drip. She moaned in frustration.

"Issues?" a familiar voice asked.

"Eric! Oh thank God you're here! This is so damn frustrating. All I want to do is watch a little TV and the remote fell. AND I can't press the button on my morphine drip."

"Hold on," Eric laughed as he leaned over and gave her a careful hug. "Am I even allowed to say that I'm glad to see you're awake?"

"You've said it. Help me? Please?" Emily pleaded batting her eyelashes at him.

Eric laughed and pressed the button on the morphine drip. He picked up the remote.

"What channel?"

"Uhm…how about the Hallmark channel? They always have MASH on. It's one of my favorite shows." Emily said.

"Your wish is my command." Eric said with a gallant bow as he changed the channel.

Emily laughed and settled herself back against the pillows, feeling more relaxed than she had in days. Eric grabbed a chair, pulled it up to the bedside, and sat down. He put his feet up on the bed and opened a manila envelope.

"Bringing work with you?" Asked Emily, leaning towards the folder in curiosity.

"Yup. Horatio wants us all on your case 24/7." Eric answered, pouring over pictures of the abandoned warehouse.

"I can't believe he's working." Emily said, shaking her head.

"I'm sure you would if you could." Eric said raising an eyebrow as he peered closer at the picture.

Emily smiled. "You know? You're probably right."

"Hold on. I'll be right back." Eric said walking towards the door, holding the picture.

Eric flipped open his cell phone and called Horatio.

"Caine." Horatio said as he flipped open his phone.

"Horatio, it's Eric. I've got something on one of these pictures. The label is CS12657832."

"I'm heading for the AV Lab." Horatio replied. Eric heard voices.

"Eric? Could you repeat those numbers please?" Horatio asked.

Eric repeated the picture number and waited for Dan to pull up the photo.

"Tell us what you see Eric." Horatio said.

"In the middle back window to the left side there is blurry spot. I can't figure out what it is."

"Zoom in on that please." He heard Horatio's steady voice order.

"Eric, there is a person looking in the window." Horatio said softly

"Really?"

"Yes. Eric, I believe you just found one of our gang members."

Horatio flipped the phone shut and headed to the trace lab to talk to Ryan about the location of the Mala Noches.

"Ryan. You paged me." He said as he hobbled into the trace lab.

"Oh hey boss. Yeah I just finished everything. Of the five names given to you by Jonathan 2 are dead, 2 are under surveillance and 1 is in the wind."

"Okay, let's focus on the one that's in the wind. Where was his last known address?"

"Right near Jonathan's workplace, about two blocks away. His name is Rico Salazar. Two more blocks' away, area residents have reported increased nighttime activity in their neighborhood. Apparently it's waking up the kids."

"Has it been looked into?"

"Police found nothing."

"Looks like a gang hotspot."

"A suspected Mala Noche ally from a case a few years ago lives there. Name is Andre Guzman."

"He could be housing them. Well, Ryan this is good, I believe we have a lead. Why don't you and Calleigh run with that? I need to stay here and cross-reference some evidence with our data base." Horatio said.

"Okay. I'll see you later." Ryan said as he removed his lab coat, put on his sports jacket, and rushed off to find Calleigh.

Horatio took the picture Dan had printed up of the gang member Eric had discovered. He put the picture in the scanner and uploaded it the computer. He began to cross-reference the face in the picture with names of known Mala Noche gang members and any names connected with past Mala Noche cases. Soon he had a hit.

Julio Fernandez. He remembered this guy. This man was in charge of every major hit ordered by the top guys. However, he was very careful and no matter how much they suspected him, they had never been able to keep him in jail for long. Horatio smiled and hobbled towards the guns left on the lab table.

He removed the unknown gun from the bag and looked carefully at it. He found trace. It looked clear and sticky. He swabbed it and tested it. He hated the crutches but breakthroughs had to come as fast as possible in this particular case.

While he waited for the computer to run the trace, he suspended the gun in the Fuming Chamber and placed a small tray of Cyanoacrylate at the bottom, over a small heat source. He watched the fumes rise from the heated glue, waiting for them to adhere to any fingerprints on the weapon.

Twenty-Five minutes later he had a good thumbprint on the back of the gun. Good, very good. He pulled up the print, put it in the scanner and crossed referenced it again.

He had a hit. Juan Cruz. He didn't have very much of a rap sheet though; only a suspected bank robbery that they hadn't quite been able to pin on him.

He picked up his cell and dialed Ryan.

"Wolfe." Ryan answered.

"Ryan, this is Horatio. Have you reached Rico's place yet?"

"We are almost there. Calleigh and I are splitting up. She's taking André's place."

"Good. We are looking for three more shooters here: Juan Cruz, Julio Fernandez and Rico Salazar. Arrest André too. If I remember correctly, he was more than a fundraiser. He was one of the top guys. He also had a major problem with me. I interfered with a hit not far back and he swore revenge. Grab anyone else you find of course, but these four are our main suspects. I have sent you and Calleigh their pictures."

"Okay boss I'm at the scene. See you later."

Horatio hung up his phone and sighed. He hated being stuck in the lab. He silently cursed his leg, picked up a file and hobbled to the break room where he sat down for the duration with a case file.

Ryan got out of the Hummer with his gun ready and an entire SWAT team with him. He walked up and banged on the door of the fairly nice home.

"Rico Salazar! This is Miami Dade PD! Open up!"

The door didn't open. Gun at the ready, he motioned for another officer to kick down the door.

They ran through the house, guns ready. Ryan heard the call 'Clear' come from all the other rooms. The he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. Rico Salazar was running for it.

"I see him!" Ryan yelled as he took off after the criminal. "He's heading for Andre's house! He's got a gun!"

Ryan chased Rico, running as fast as he could. Rico turned as he was running and pointed the gun at Ryan, firing two shots. He missed, and Ryan was catching up. He dropped the gun and turned a corner into someone's backyard. He reached a hedge and began to climb. Ryan reached the hedge a split second later and grabbed the guy's foot, yanking him down off the hedge. Rico fell, but fought back. He pulled a knife and jumped to his feet, attacking Ryan. He nicked Ryan's cheek with the knife and managed to give Ryan a good punch in the face, when Ryan pulled out his gun.

"Drop the knife," he said, modeling his tone of voice on the dangerous one he had heard Horatio use so many times.

Rico just stood there.

"I said drop it!" Ryan shouted.

Rico dropped it.

"Put your hands behind your head and get on your knees, now!"

Rico did as he was told.

The SWAT team and police officers arrived and cuffed Rico. Ryan ran to his car and grabbed a kit. He returned and bagged the knife. At least Rico would go to jail for an assault on a police officer.

Calleigh walked up to him and noticed his bleeding cheek and the black eye that was starting to develop.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Yeah," he replied. "I'll be alright. Did we get everyone?"

"Yes. We have all four men we were able to connect to the scene."

"Good."

They got in the Hummer and headed back to the lab to wrap up one of the toughest cases either of them had had to endure.


	9. Ending One Tough Case

Eric had been called back to the lab. Horatio needed all hands on deck as the team worked long into the night wrapping up the case. They conducted interviews with all four suspects, and processed their homes.

The amount of evidence against the shooters was overwhelming, ranging from e-mails about the hit to the guns themselves found in the shooter's homes. It took hours of long hard work and constant trips back and forth between the lab and various locations, but they did it. They did a thorough job too. Horatio had warned them not to miss a shred of evidence, or one of the suspects could walk. By the time all their work was done it had been nearly two days since Eric had been to see Emily.

Horatio surveyed his team gathered in the break room, finishing the last of their paperwork on the Warehouse case.

Ryan looked as though he was about to fall asleep over his work, and had downed two cups of coffee in the time Horatio had been there, which was not long.

Calleigh had just finished putting away all the evidence to wait for the court trial and was now helping Ryan finish paperwork.

Eric had just joined them from his interview of the two men under surveillance and had found no incriminating evidence against them. He grabbed a file and started scribbling.

Horatio turned back to his own papers.

Less than forty-five minutes later they were all done. Horatio glanced at the clock. It was 4:30. He got up and hobbled out of the break room. He flipped open his cell phone and dialed.

"Hello, this is Marie Taylor." The answer came from the other end of the line.

"Hello, Mrs. Taylor, this is Horatio Caine."

"Lieutenant Caine! How are you feeling?"

"Just fine Ma'am. How is Emily?"

"She is doing better, although she is rather sick of being in bed all day."

Horatio suppressed a smile at that. "I'm sure. Are you at the hospital?"

"Yes."

"How long have you been there?"

"Most of the day," she sighed. "I have a babysitter watching my kids."

"Well I was just going to come over with the team to see Emily. Why don't you go home and take care of your other two children for a little while?"

"That would be wonderful actually. Thank you, Lieutenant Caine."

Horatio smiled. "It's not a problem. We'll be there soon."

Horatio flipped his phone shut and walked back into the break room.

"I am going to pay Emily a visit. I want you two," he said pointing to Eric and Ryan, "To get about an hour of sleep and a good shower. Calleigh, I need a ride, but you need to do the same."

Calleigh frowned. "Horatio, I think you are forgetting that you're still injured."

"I'll be fine. I promise I'll go home after we all visit."

Calleigh looked thoughtful for a moment and then nodded her consent.

"Good. Let's go." said Horatio, making his way out.

It was around 7:30 at night and Emily was sleeping comfortably when the rest of the team walked in. Horatio was seated next to the bed with his leg propped up, reading a forensics journal.

They walked in quietly and seated themselves around the room. Emily was an incredibly light sleeper, however and she woke up almost right away.

"Hey guys." she smiled as she saw the whole team, including Alexx, in the room.

"Hey Emily!"

They exchanged greetings, each member of the team coming up to hug Emily and tell her that they were glad to see her awake.

"Wow Ryan." she said as he pulled away from their hug. "That is some shiner. What happened?"

The team spent the next hour telling her all about the past couple of days. By the end of the hour Emily had fallen into a deep restful sleep.

The team watched their youngest member sleep.

Eric sighed. "I think…this is one of the toughest cases I have ever had to handle."

Ryan and Calliegh nodded in agreement.

"I'm just grateful we didn't lose you two." said Calliegh, squeezing Horatio's hand.

Horatio smiled, the fierce pride he held for his team becoming all the more real to him again, and extending to the teams newest member, peacefully asleep among her friends.

THE END!

How did you like it? REVIEW PLEASE. It will certainly make my day!


End file.
